The Triple AAA Water Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 14, 1964

148 N.L.R.B. 1018 (N.L.R.B. 1964)

1018 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
NOTE -We will notify any of the above-named employees presently serving in the
Armed Forces of the United States of their right to full reinstatement upon applica-
tion in accordance with the Selective Service Act and the Universal Military training
and Service Act of 1948 , as amended , after discharge from ,the Armed Forces.
This notice must remain posted for 60 consecutive days from the date of posting,
and must not be altered , defaced , or covered by any other material.
Employees may communicate directly with the Board 's Regional Office, Federal
Office Building, Room 2023 , 1550 Main Street , Cincinnati , Ohio, Telephone No.
Dunbar 1-1420 , if they have any question concerning this notice or compliance
with its provisions.
The Triple AAA Water Co. and Chauffeurs , Sales Drivers &
Helpers Local 572, International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America . Case No.
21-CA-59041. September 14,1964
DECISION AND ORDER
On June 19, 1964, Trial Examiner James R. Hemingway issued his
Decision in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the Respondent
had engaged in and was engaging in certain unfair labor practices
violative of Section 8(a) (1) and (5) of the National Labor Relations
Act and recommending that it cease and desist therefrom and take
certain affirmative action, as recommended in the attached Trial Ex-
aminer's Decision. Thereafter, the Respondent filed exceptions to the
Trial Examiner's Decision and the General Counsel filed a motion to
strike the Respondent's exceptions.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Members Leedom, Fanning, and
Brown].
The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and
finds that no prejudicial error was committed. The rulings are here-
by affirmed. The Board has considered the Trial Examiner's Decision
and the entire record in this case, including the exceptions and the
General Counsel's motion, and hereby adopts the findings, conclu-
sions, and recommendations of the Trial Examiner.,'
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 10(c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
as amended, the Board hereby adopts as its Order, the Order recom-
mended by the Trial Examiner and orders that Respondent, The
1 In view of our determination herein we find it unnecessary to pass upon the General
Counsel's motion to strike Respondent 's exceptions.
148 NLRB No. 103.
THE TRIPLE AAA WATER CO. 1019
Triple AAA Water Co., its officers , agents, successors , and assigns,
shall take the action set forth in the Trial Examiner 's Recommended
Order.
TRIAL EXAMINER'S DECISION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On April 17, 1964, Chauffeurs, Sales Drivers & Helpers, Local 572, International
Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America,
herein called 'the Union, filed a charge against The Triple AAA Water Co., herein
called the Respondent, alleging violations of Section 8(a) (1) and (5) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 151, et seq., herein called the Act.
Upon this charge, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, on
behalf of the Board, by its Regional Director for Region 21, on May 19, 1964,
issued a complaint and notice of hearing. The Respondent filed no answer to the
complaint within 10 days from the date of service of the complaint as required by
Section 102.20 of the Board's Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended. On
June 5, 1964, Bruce H. Berry, counsel for the General Counsel of National Labor
Relations Board, moved that the allegations of the complaint be deemed to be ad-
mitted and found to be true as to Respondent. A copy of said motion was served
on the Respondent and on A. W. Hinz, a labor relations consultant. On June 5,
1964, the said Regional Director ordered that the motion be, and thereby was,
referred to the Associate Chief Trial Examiner in San Francisco, California, for a
ruling. The Associate Chief Trial Examiner designated Trial Examiner James R.
Hemingway to rule on said motion. No opposition to said motion having been re-
ceived by June 11, 1964, on that date, by telegraphic order (served on the Respond-
ent, the General Counsel, and the Charging Party), I granted the General Counsel's
motion.
Upon the basis of the admitted allegations of the complaint, I make the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE RESPONDENT
Respondent, a California corporation with several facilities in the State of Califor-
nia, including one in Long Beach, California, is engaged in distilling, selling, and dis-
tributing potable water, both at retail and at wholesale. In the course and conduct of
its operations, Respondent's gross volume of sales annually exceeds $500,000, and
Respondent annually sells and distributes its products valued in excess of $50,000
directly to customers located at points outside the State of California. On these
facts, I find that the Board has jurisdiction and that it will effectuate the policies of
the Act to assert jurisdiction.
II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Chauffers, Sales Drivers & Helpers, Local 572, International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America is a labor organiza-
tion representing employees of Respondent.
III. THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES
The Refusal To Bargain
a. The appropriate unit
All production and maintenance employees and driver-salesmen employed by
Respondent at its Long Beach, California, facility, but excluding all office clerical
employees, guards, watchmen, professional employees, and supervisors, as defined
in the Act, constitute an -appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act.
b. The Union's majority in the appropriate unit
On January 9, 1964, a majority of the employees of Respondent in the unit de-
scribed in paragraph a, above (pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election,
issued by the Regional Director for Region 21 on December 5, 1963, in The Triple
1020 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
AAA Water Co., Case No. 21-RC-8664), designated or selected the Union as their
representative for the purposes of collective bargaining with Respondent, and on
February 12, 1964, the Regional Director certified the Union as the exclusive
collective-bargaining representative of the employees in said unit. I find that the
Union was on February 12, 1964, and at all times since has been, the representative
of the employees in the aforesaid unit for the purpose of collective bargaining with
respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other terms and conditions
of employment, within the meaning of Section 9(a) of the Act.
c. The request and the refusal to bargain
The Union, on February 13, 1964, requested, and thereafter continued to request,
the Respondent to recognize and bargain collectively with it with respect to wages,
rates of pay, hours of employment, and other terms and conditions of employment
as the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of all the employees of Respond-
ent in the aforesaid unit. Since February 13, 1964, Respondent has refused to
recognize and bargain collectively with the Union as the exclusive representative of
all the employees in the aforesaid unit.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES UPON COMMERCE
The unfair lalbor practices of the Respondent set forth above, occurring in connec-
tion with the operations ' of the Respondent described in section I, have a close,
intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several
States and tend to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and
the free flow thereof. -
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, I make the following:
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The Respondent is engaged in commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6)
-and (7) of the Act.
2. The Union is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of
the Act. râ–º
3. A unit composed of all production and maintenance employees and driver-
salesmen employed by Respondent at its Long Beach, California, facility, but
excluding all office clerical employees, guards, watchmen, professional employees,
and supervisors, as defined in the Act, is appropriate for the purpose of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act.
. 4. The Union, on February 12, 1964, was, and at all times material thereafter
has been, the designated collective-bargaining representative of all the employees
in the above-described appropriate unit for the purpose of collective bargaining
with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of
employment, within the meaning of Section 9(a) of the Act.
5. By refusing on and after February 13, 1964, to bargain with the Union on
request, the Respondent has engaged in and is engaging in unfair labor practices
within the meaning of Section 8(a)(5) and (1) of the Act.
6. The aforesaid unfair labor practices are unfair labor practices affecting com-
merce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and conclusions of law, and
upon the entire record, I recommend that Respondent, its officers, agents, succes-
sors and assigns, shall:
1. Cease and desist from:
(a) Refusing to bargain with. the Union.
(b) In any like or related manner, interfering with, restraining, or coercing
employees in the exercise of their rights guaranteed under Section 7 of the Act.
2. Take the following affirmative action, which I find will effectuate the policies
of the Act:
(a) Upon request, bargain collectively with the Union with respect to rates of
pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment, and if
an understanding is reached, embody such understanding in a signed agreement.
THE TRIPLE AAA WATER CO. 1021
(b) Post at its plant in Long Beach, California, copies of the attached notice
marked "Appendix." 1 Copies of said notice, to be furnished by the Regional Direc-
tor for Region 21, shall, after they have been duly signed by the Respondent's
authorized representative, be posted by the Respondent immediately upon receipt
thereof and be maintained by it for 60 consecutive days thereafter in conspicuous
places, including all places where notices to employees are customarily posted.
Reasonable steps shall be taken to ensure that said notices are not altered, defaced,
or covered by any other material.
(c) Notify the Regional Director, in writing, within 20 days from the date of
service of this Decision , what steps Respondent has taken to comply herewith?
IIn the event that this Recommended Order be adopted by the Board, the words "a
Decision and Order" shall be substituted for the words "a Recommended Order of a Trial
Examiner" in the notice In the further event that the Board's Order be enforced by a
decree of a United States Court of Appeals, the words "a Decree of the United States
Court of Appeals, Enforcing an Order" shall be substituted for the words "a Decision
and Order"
2In the event that this Recommended Order should be adopted by the Board, this pro-
vision shall be modified to read. "Notify said Regional Director, in writing, within 10 days
from the date of this Order, what steps the Respondent has taken to comply herewith."'
APPENDIX
NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES
Pursuant to the Recommended Order of a Trial Examiner of the National Labor
Relations Board, and in order to effectuate the policies of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, as amended, we hereby notify our employees that:
WE WILL bargain collectively, upon request, with Chauffeurs, Sales Drivers &
Helpers, Local 572, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs,
Warehousemen and Helpers of America, as the exclusive representative of all
our employees in the bargaining unit described below, with respect to rates of
pay, wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, and, if an
understanding is reached , we will embody such understanding in a signed
agreement.
The bargaining unit is:
All production and maintenance employees and driver-salesmen em-
ployed by us at our Long Beach, California, facility, but excluding all
office clerical employees , guards, watchmen , - professional employees, and
supervisors as defined in the Act.
WE WILL NOT refuse to bargain nor, in any like or related manner, interfere
with , restrain , or coerce our employees in the exercise of their right to self-
organization , to form , join, or assist labor organizations , to bargain collectively
through representatives of their own choosing, or to engage in other concerted
activities for the purposes of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or
protection, or to refrain from any or all such activities except to the extent
that such right may be affected by an agreement requiring membership in
a labor organization as a condition of employment, as authorized in Sectioir.
8(a)(3) of the Act.
THE TRIPLE AAA WATER CO.,
Employer.
Dated------------------- By-------------------------------------------
(Representative) (Title)
This notice must remain posted for 60 consecutive days from, the date of posting,
and must not be altered, defaced, or. covered,by. any other material,
Employees may communicate directly with the Board's Regional Office, 849 South,
Broadway, Los Angeles, California, Telephone No. 688-5206, if they have any
questions about its provisions or compliance therewith.